Obsessions
by LoveToday15
Summary: Bella has always gotten over her fears. It's hard to be forever afraid of death when you have a ring that lets you cheat. But what happens when it's taken away by… Damon, of all people? T for Language, :
1. Chapter 1

Obsessions;

**It might be a slow start, but it's all important :) Also, no Cullens. Sorry if you were counting on that :( Set in tvd 3x17**

* * *

Bella's fears are simply tasks waiting to be completed. Being raised by witches, then watching them be murdered does that to people. When an ultimate betrayal sends her reeling and alone in Mystic Falls, with her family friend Alaric a ruthless killing machine, waiting to kill her, the ring that gives her life is snatched away, leaving her unprotected and defenceless.

Which leaves her in the hands of Damon. Can he deal with the stress of protecting a 16 year old girl after taking away the one thing that could save her? Can she deal with the murderers of her parents coming after her with no protection left?

* * *

**BPOV**

My whole life I had been taught to face my fears. Literally—to not even dwell on the fear before facing it. Most kids were taught like this, but I was slightly different.

I loved the feeling of accomplishment after getting over the fear when I was young. I had been trained to not be afraid of anything. My fears back then consisted of drowning and the dark.

Now my fears are much worse, and facing them gets me in deep shit. I liked to see it as a benefit, to have that drive, but most of the times it annoyed me to no end.

Like right now. My head was throbbing dully, but the pain wasn't consistent. There were three men in front of me, and they blurred with my vision before I blinked and saw that one had his arm against my throat. Not too tight, but not loose either.

"What did you say to me?" The man who held me hissed. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You heard me." Of course he heard me, or he wouldn't have slammed me against a brick wall. I'm guessing he took my comment a little too personally. But then again, it was personal.

"You're not in any place right now to talk like that,"

"Get your hands off me." I demanded quietly.

My brother Noel told me once that when you threaten people quietly, they are more fearful of what you mean. If you yell, they know your true potential, and if you are too quiet, they think you are easy. He told me, _You have to understand the difference between chaos and being composed. _

My tone was obviously something they weren't used to. The men halted and looked at me more seriously. One of them leaned closer toward me. It was too dark for me to focus on their facial features, but I didn't really care. He leaned against the wall next to me.

"You want us to miss out on all the fun?" He questioned.

My elbow snapped back into his face, leaving a loud crack and a shout of pain. Judging by the blood dripping on my arm, I broke his nose.

Without hesitation, I swung my knee up to the man in front of me, aiming for incapacitation. His reaction was much more silent, a high pitched whine, and he kneeled to the ground in pain. I shoved my palms against the third man's chest and he slammed backwards into the wall before I turned and stood in the opening of the alleyway. The man I shoved was shocked, leaning against the wall, before he turned livid and lunged. I turned and ran down the sidewalk, toward one of the few streetlights. I knew I would have to go down another street to get to my house, but at this moment, I didn't care.

Anticipation crawled through my body, along with a rush of adrenaline at the sound of the man's footsteps behind me. Finally. Some excitement. After a boring first week of school, this was exactly what I needed. To run, to be in normal, human danger. Danger, but of the normal kind.

Headlights swung around the corner, blinding me momentarily. I stumbled a few steps, unable to see, then kept running toward the streetlight. My street was just across the road from there.

I halted by the streetlight, waiting for the man to come. I wasn't going to lead him straight to my house, and I had enough confidence in myself to not let anything get too far.

A sharp pain in my head tugged me to the side and I realized too late that he had pulled my hair hard enough for me to be jarred to the side. Another sharp pain and my vision was dotted with black, a deep ache coming from my cheekbone.

Hell no. This just became personal.

I swung a leg up but he grabbed it, twisting it. Growling now, I pushed my fist forward into his stomach, and he let go of me, winded, but his knee flew up to my ribs. There was a sharp crack and I cried out, on my knees now, pressing my hand to my side.

The air had been forced out of me, and I struggled to breath. I swayed once more at a sharp punch to my cheekbone again. Somewhere in my mind, warning signs were blaring at me to get off the ground. My heart pounded in my chest and my blood felt like water. I was losing my control. My palms began to sweat as I pushed myself up off the ground.

A dizzying pain swept through me, and with a half groan half sharp gasp, I lunged at him, my knees banging against his chest as I swung my fist at his jaw. White heat blared through my side, but with the adrenaline, I never felt the pain. I punched him again, rage fuelling my strength, before I realized he was unconscious. His skull knocking against the pavement must have been harder than I thought.

I turned and ran down my street, eager to keep my blood pumping before the adrenaline subsided.

Akjnd;lkjasd

"Where have you been?"

Noel called out to me when I didn't show up in the lounge. I leaned heavily against the door, tears of pain blurring my vision, before I blinked them away. He had heard me walk into the house, but didn't come to inspect.

"Noel," I said roughly. All in a minute, my injuries returned. I stretched my legs out, struggling to breath. My left side was aching, and I couldn't quite move my left arm properly. My face ached and there was a sharp pain beneath my cheekbone.

"What the hell happened?" Noel stood over me, eyes widened.

For my brother, we looked nothing alike. We were both tall, and we both had thick black eyelashes, and we were both tan, but where he had green eyes and brown blond hair, I had blue eyes and plain brown hair.

"I think," the words were painful to get out, "my rib's cracked."

Noel kept staring at me then he sighed, holding out a hand. I took it, and he helped me to the lounge. Immediately, he pulled out a first aid kit from the cabinet—yes, the first aid kit was in the lounge for convenience reasons, and told me to lift my shirt up. He let out a sharp whistle at the sight. I couldn't turn to look, but he set onto bandaging them up, letting the material go all the way around my stomach and back.

"Really, Bella." Noel shook his head. "You could have waited until after school tomorrow and leapt off the building or something. Did it have to be at midnight on a Sunday?"

"I didn't jump off a building." I corrected him, rolling my eyes. "The trouble found me this time."

Noel stayed silent, waiting for me to continue. It wasn't unusual for trouble to find me; but when it did, it hurt. And we usually left town the next day. I didn't really care anyway. This small town was just a pain to be in.

"I was walking home from the library, and I got into a little disagreement."

"How many?" He asked casually. I shrugged.

"3."

"How were they acting?" Did he have to make this sound like an interrogation? He dropped my shirt and tilted my face to the light by my chin.

"Like jerks. Just regular pain in the asses," I shrugged.

"Listen, Bella. If you're not telling me something, I'm going to very annoyed when I find out. Very. Annoyed."

"Noel, I told you everything," I insisted. His eyebrows inched higher and he stared at me. I sighed. "Fine. The third guy wouldn't back down. He was almost… intent on hurting me."

"Did they touch you?"

"Not in the way you're thinking," I sighed and leaned back in the couch. "Noel, I really don't think it's serious. You know? It's not the witches. It was just a human danger."

"No, Bella, these human dangers don't happen to you, alright?" He spoke fast and stood up, running a hand through his hair. "I'm just trying to keep you alive. Do you know how hard it's been?"

_Maybe you should stop trying,_ I wanted to say.

I had been brought back to life 5 times. My ring prevented me from dying, but it was in the wrong hands in the witches eyes. Not every time I died was an accident. Noel suspected that the person who killed our parents was out to kill me, due to my father's betrayal to a society of witches. He had betrayed them in more ways than just leaving them, but they both died before they said anything to us.

I felt like pounding my head against the floor to get the thoughts of my parents out of my head. Twice when I had died, they brought me back, but now I had to wear my father's ring, because we no longer had witches on our side. Aside from my Aunt Clarissa, but she would never go against the balance of nature.

"I know it's been hard," I said, focusing on Noel now. "But I'm good now, alright? I've got the ring." I held up my hand to confirm it. "You don't have to worry,"

"Bella—" He took a deep breath, ready to go on, before he sighed. "Do you need help packing your bags?"

I shook my head, looking down. What I wanted was to sleep and never have to wake up knowing I could die anytime. Noel brought back an icepack wrapped in a towel and I pressed it to my cheek, wincing.

"Be up by 6. We're driving to Mystic Falls." Noel walked out the room without another word. I know he doesn't blame me, but he also thinks I should try harder at avoiding trouble.

I slept on top of my covers, too exhausted to move anymore.

We got to Mystic Falls by 10 in the morning. I was disappointed because I didn't get to see much of Mystic Falls, Aunt Clarissa lived just on the outskirts. She wouldn't be proud of us rocking up at her doorstep.

"You grew!" A voice yelled out when I stepped out the car. I whirled around, frowning, before I saw my cousin running toward me. A second later I was in the air, screaming as his arms wrapped around me tightly.

"Chris! Chris!" I screeched in pain. He dropped me and I stumbled on my feet, wincing, clutching on my ribs and wheezing for breath. He had grown taller. Well, last time I saw him, we were both 11. He looked almost exactly like Noel, but a younger version.

"Shit, Bella, what's up?" He demanded, looking down on me. Of course he got taller than me. I gritted my teeth at that thought and looked up to face him. Air hissed between his teeth as he took in my splotchy purple blue cheek.

"She got in a bit of trouble," Noel got out of his car and shrugged, frowning at Chris. "Take it easy on the ribs."

"Most brothers would show a little more concern?" I claimed, staring at Noel. He shrugged again.

"Hey, you should have warned him. You know how he gets." I glared at Noel. He rolled his eyes and addressed Chris, "Tell

Aunty I said hi. I gotta go to the next town over."

"Yeah, sure, Noel," Chris nodded immediately, agreeing. Noel looked at me with troubled eyes.

"Be careful, alright?"

"Uh-huh." I agreed also. All I wanted to do was eat and watch some TV. Noel had a bit of work to do, investigating and such, while I had to stay here and enrol for school. He drove off without saying a proper goodbye, uncharacteristically. I frowned after him and walked straight into the house with Chris. He was talking a mile a minute.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" He demanded, leading me to the kitchen. He held my bags and took them to the guest room upstairs, and when he came back down I was already searching his fridge for good food.

"Because it's not a big deal. The usual, you know?" I said to him, bringing out cheese and a packet of chips. I set for making nachos while he hung on my every word. "I just got in a bit of danger,"

"You died, didn't you?" He frowned, looking troubled. I laughed, but it hurt my ribs.

"Chris, I wouldn't be walking around like this if I had. Also I wouldn't have any of these nasty injuries," I rolled my eyes. "So what are we doing tonight?"

"Today I'm going to help restore the Wickery Bridge." He grimaced. "It's my community service from the principal. And you have to come."

"I'm injured." I shrugged. "I don't have to come."

"Oh, come on. First time I see you in 5 years and you're avoiding me. You can pour the drinks."

There was a small part of me that genuinely wanted to stay home and hide my splotched face, but I squashed it down. I wasn't ashamed, and I had to go now that Chris pulled the 5 year card.

"Fine." I sighed, defeated. "I'm gonna shower," I turned and walked out the room. My head was aching. Chris had this little thing where he wouldn't stop talking.

I knew that he would stop talking to me if he knew how many times I had cheated death.

I wore jeans and a leather jacket with a scarf. I left my hair down and pulled on some boots, ignoring the pain in my side. It seemed appropriate for cutting up wood anyway. Not that I could even lift an axe. Chris drove us there, and I got some sleep in the car on the way. I hadn't got much sleep when we drove to Mystic Falls, because Noel had a horrible habit of singing and driving.

By the time we got there, a full crowd had shown up. Not many teenagers were there, most were adults, but Chris immediately left me for his friends, slapping them on the back and laughing, grinning. It was nice to see him so normal. Except now I wanted to break his neck for leaving me.

* * *

**Damon POV**

Damon stared across the crowd, his eyes lingering on Rebekah. She was nodding along to everything the Mayor said, like the lackey she was. Unable to resist, he mouthed off a comment towards Ric, who ignored it.

"Remind me again, why are we here?"

Damon rolled his eyes. Some people would never loosen up.

"Ric, the world can't stop just because you're an accidental psycho killer."

"Do you have any tact? Whatsoever?" Meredith, aka, little miss 'let-me-tell-you-how-the-world-works,' immediately demanded.

He wasn't concentrating on her anymore. A girl across the crowd stood, tall, eyes scanning the crowd. She looked around 20, and everyone had something to say about her. Not because she looked young; but because of the big, ugly bruise marring her beautiful face.

Dimples appeared when she looked toward them, grinning, and she waved, uncaring of the careful looks everyone gave her. She started to walk to them.

"Do you know her?" Damon whispered to Alaric. Alaric waved her over, even though she was already walking. When she came close enough, she threw her arms around his neck.

"Alaric!" She leaned close enough for Damon to smell her humanity, and to see a very familiar ring on her finger. When she pulled away, everyone was staring at it.

"Uh-oh." Damon couldn't stop himself. It was the only thing that came to mind. Figures. The girl's eyes flickered toward him, calculative, before she crossed her arms, hiding her hand from view. She paled considerably, but her expression did not change.

"Bella. What happened?" Alaric finally spoke, and nodded to her face. Up close, Damon could see the bruise was more shaped like a fist. She shrugged, eyes glazing over them all before focusing only on Ric.

"The usual."

Ric sighed, and a protective look came in his eyes. Did this Bella girl get slapped around enough to call it 'the usual?' She didn't seem to have a problem with it if she did.

"Bella. You're 16 now." Hold up! 16? "You can't be reckless—"

"I'm not being reckless." She snapped sharply. So the bruise was her fault. Except it wouldn't explain why she looked like she was punched. Bella sighed before going on. "I know what I'm doing, really."

Ric didn't dwell. He squinted into the distance, then focused on Bella.

"Where's Noel?"

"Next town over. Come over to Aunty's tonight. Noel will be there,"

Alaric was already shaking his head.

"Not tonight—"

"Maybe we should cut it off with the dinner talk and get straight to the point," Damon spoke finally, but he had been watching them like you would watch a disaster blow up in your face. He went on, "You have to take the ring off. It's more trouble than it's worth."

Of course, maybe that was a little too blunt. But the girl was 16; she wasn't facing any immediate danger, and if she left them alone, her chances of being killed by a supernatural force were 30 to 0. Pretty big, if you thought about it, but she shouldn't have come to Mystic Falls if she was looking for peace.

Bella didn't look at him. She stared at Alaric, then at his hands, where he wasn't wearing the ring. There were only supposed to be two rings. Besides, Bella's ring was specifically more smaller and more feminine in design, like it was made for her. But either way, it had the same crest.

Little miss do-gooder immediately jumped on Damon's case, while he rolled his eyes, staring at Bella. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, mine's much more worth Alaric's. I think I'll hold onto it." She countered. "Who do you think you are, anyway?"

"This is Damon—" Alaric started, but Damon was already rushing on.

"You think this is a competition of who has the best ring? It's not a game, woman."

Anger flared in her eyes.

"First, don't call me woman. And second, I know more than anyone else just how much of a game this is. Don't tell me what to do." She snapped.

"Well, someone has to," _You're sixteen, _He would have added, but 16 year olds didn't need to be told what to do, and he knew that anyway. This chick was going to get herself in serious trouble if she didn't get that ring off. And clearly Ric was too soft to tell her what to do, and Meredith was out of the question.

"No one has to tell me what to do." Bella said through gritted teeth. She turned to Ric. "You have a screwed up friend. I'll tell Noel you said hi."

She turned and walked off.

"You just screwed up," Ric said beside Damon, both watching her leave and meeting up with a guy at the corner of the crowd. "She's going to get her revenge."

"Revenge on what?" Damon demanded exasperatedly. "The chick is all attitude and no action. She needs to get that ring off before she turns into a hormonal, homicidal teenage girl with serious PMS."

"Damon," Ric said sharply. "Bella is too much action. There's a reason she has that ring. She needs it. Without it, she'd have been dead 5 times over."

Damon didn't acknowledge what Ric said, but he heard it. Somewhere, he knew it was wrong for a 16 year old girl to be so dependent on a ring that saved her life. And he knew it was even more wrong to let her keep it, but the worst part of it was what she would become if she did.

While some times, everyone knew Damon was just a cynical, harshly honest vampire, not many people understood his need to fix what he could.

And he was going to fix up this problem before it blew up in everyone's faces, even if it meant ripping the ring from her hands and burning it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for the reviews :) **

**Chapter 2**

* * *

People never expect what they get. There is always something different about expectations. It could be the smallest thing, or it could be a complete different world to the one you imagined in your head, something so different it's disappointing.

Seeing Alaric again was disappointing in the sense that I expected him to be happy to see me, to make ring jokes about how messed up we were, that it would be comical. What I got when I saw him? A slap of reality, knowing Alaric would one day decide Noel and I were just two kids messing with magic? Yeah, pretty much. He made me sound like I thought this was a game.

Okay, not Alaric.

_Damon._

Oh, how I wanted to rip his head off after he called me woman. Mentioning my ring brought on a different type of rage. A rage that perfectly showed just how much I needed the ring.

If I actually stopped using the ring… I would be dead. People would know. The witches would know, and they would find me and Caleb and finish what they started.

The witches had a big vendetta against my parents. It's hard to look at people the same way when they betray you, and steal your magic.

In no way did I support my parents. But I understood why they did what they did. The witches had a plan, a plan to kill all evil in the world, in whatever form. That part I still didn't understand.

What could be so evil in the world that they felt the need to destroy it? As far as I knew, the most evil things out there consisted of witches themselves and... Damon Salvatore.

How did he even know about the rings anyway?

"_What's up_?" Noel finally answered the phone. I had called him eight times since I got home.

"When are you coming back?" I demanded, pacing the lounge room. I had gotten a ride from Chris home, but he left again to go back and be a good little civilian, and probably to get free drinks and food.

"_Bella, I haven't even been gone a day. I'm not coming back until another couple of days."_

"A couple of days?" I asked, dismayed. "I need you to be here."

"_What's going on?" _

"Some idiot knows about my ring. He kept telling me to take it off."

The other line went silent for a long moment. I cleared my throat, just a little, to remind him I was there. After a long moment, he sighed.

"_Look, I can't leave now. Just steer clear and call me every day_." Something wasn't right. In the background, I heard a loud groan, and a sharp yell. The line crackled as if someone put their hand over the mouthpiece, before Noel came back. "_I gotta go. Call me back_,"

"Noel-!"

He was gone.

Okay, that I wasn't expecting. Noel was supposed to come rushing back and start yelling at me for making myself so obvious; though I did no such thing. Hell, I almost expected him to start yelling over the phone, even though that was uncharacteristic of him.

I turned and flopped onto the couch. The house was pitch black. The sun had set some time before, between unpacking and calling Noel I hadn't noticed. I hung my legs over the arm rest, not bothering with the light. Noel used to tell me to get acquainted with the unknown. It's how I faced my fears. Being acquainted….

With the unknown.

A laugh bubbled from my chest. The sound was loud in the silence of the house, reminding me I was alone. I laughed harder. Of course, I was supposed to be facing my fears. And Damon Salvatore was unknown to me; so I feared him. That's why I hated him so much.

My phone rang loudly a second later after my revelation. I avoided looking at it in the dark and held it to my ear.

"Yeah?" I assumed it was Noel, but a low voice on the other end greeted me instead.

"Bella, what are you doing?"

"Hating your best friend." I snapped to Alaric. He cleared his throat, as if impatient. I frowned as he went on.

"Come over and we'll talk. I'm at 2104 Maple Street."

I scrunched up my nose at the thought of walking to God knows where, but I sighed anyway.

"Fine. You better have a good explanat—" He hung up before I could finish my sentence. Was everyone in a rush to leave?

I stood up and turned the light on, running upstairs to get changed. I threw on a coat and my jeans under it, with my boots. I didn't really care what I looked like, and I didn't bother locking the door on my way out. If Chris didn't come back tonight, I'd have no way of getting in.

I used maps on my phone to get there. It was surprisingly easy, less than half an hour, but the only thing that was Alaric about the house was his car out the front.

It was double storey, and looked completely suburban. It didn't look like Alaric's type. How much had he changed since we saw him? Did he have a family now? The thought jerked something in my chest. I felt as if I was being replaced. Which was ridiculous anyway.

The door was open. I walked through, wiping my shoes.

"Alaric?"

He walked down the stairs, holding a bloody dishtowel to his hand. I frowned at it.

"What happened?"

He shook his head. That sad look in his eyes was gone, replaced with…some sort of determination. He walked down the steps slowly, an odd smile on his face.

"Just a little cut." He shrugged. "Come on, we'll talk in the kitchen." He walked toward the right, around the staircase. I closed the door behind me, moving to follow him.

"So, is this your plac—" A loud clang interrupted me. I halted, looking down.

There was a bloody knife on the floor. Alaric turned around slowly, narrowing his eyes.

My heart thudded as I stared at the knife, then at him. A little cut… Warning bells went off in my head. A little whisper; _run, _it said. I had already stopped listening to that whisper. It always came back when I was facing my fears.

He leaned toward me, his feet still.

"Bella…"

I took a step back, keeping eye contact with him as I lowered to pick up the knife. It scraped against the wood, the only sound between us.

"Don't come any closer." I warned him.

He lunged toward me. I swung my leg at his knee, and he halted roughly, then reached out to grab me. I had already punched him roughly in the cheek before I knew what was happening, but he grabbed my hand and twisted it backwards, so my back was against his chest. His other hand wrenched my hair so hard I lifted off the ground. I cried out from the pain and reached the knife up blindly. He shouted out roughly, letting go of me.

"You little—" I moved out of the way as he held a hand to his bloody shoulder before I stabbed the knife in his thigh. He screamed roughly, on his knees now. I had missed the bone. "I can help you! Just stop fighting it!"

I stood over him, the knife still in my hand.

"What the hell, Alaric? What are you trying—"

His arm swung up, knocking my knees out from under me. I fell on my back, the wind knocked out of me, my ribs reminding me of my injury.

Then there was an agonizing pain. I screamed bloody murder as he punched my ribs, right over the broken one, tears squeezing out my eyes, but that barely registered. One more punch and that rib was going to penetrate my lungs.

I choked off the scream and stabbed the knife at his fist coming toward me. He moved out of the way, and I saw it coming toward me again. As a last resort, I pulled his arm toward me, twisting it with all my strength. He jerked backwards, grunting and moaning. I felt a final pop, before I let go, exhausted.

At least I managed to dislocate his shoulder before he punched me again.

The blow never came. He was wrenched upward, and I couldn't see anymore than that. Dark shadows obscured my vision, and I barely registered my last thought.

_The only times I blacked out from pain was when I died. _

* * *

**DPOV:**

Damon heard her slight intake of breath, the only sign she showed that she had woken up. She didn't move, but she had gone still.

Rolling his eyes, he went back to sketching out the sign. Ric would have been better at this than them. But of course, his alter ego insisted on making an appearance last night and pounding the life out of a 16 year old girl. Something always got in the way.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded, voice croaky and rough.

Stefan, who had been on his phone, swivelled back to look at her. Damon looked over his shoulder from the desk. She was touching at her face, confused. The skin was healed from the bruise, and she looked like she was glowing with energy, despite just waking up. It must have been a teenager thing.

She struggled to sit up and blinked several times, her lashes casting pale shadows on her cheeks.

"My name is Stefan Salvatore," Stefan began to walk toward her. She frowned deeper at him.

"Maybe I should rephrase," She smiled politely before going on, "Who the hell are you to drag me into a house with no idea of who I am?"

Stefan raised his eyebrows slowly, and then smirked a little, looking toward Damon. They both stared at him; Bella in more confusion, Stefan was nodding.

"You were right. She is feisty."

Damon grinned back at him, not looking at Bella.

"She stabbed Ric twice and dislocated his shoulder. Was that not enough proof?" He remembered seeing Ric passed out on the floor, unconscious from Stefan suffocating him, and his arm twisted strangely. The bloodied floor from his nicked shoulder and stabbed thigh, both barely missed the bone. Stopping a full grown guy practically double her age must have taken skill, which raised the question; what was the chick facing to need that kind of strength?

"True," Stefan agreed, and then looked back at Bella. "So, you were blacked out in front of a murderer. I took the liberty of healing you, so you can go now if you want."

Way to be brief. Damon turned back to the sign, assuming now she would be pissed off to have vampire blood in her system.

"You okay?" Stefan asked, barely any concern in his voice. Damon turned back to them, unable to concentrate anymore. Her head was in her hands and she was sitting properly on the couch now.

"No!" She snapped, looking up at him. "I'm not fucking okay. The only man I look up to is a murderer, you dick. Shut up." Damon whistled, then stood up and walked toward them. She seemed more upset at Alaric than the vampire blood.

"If it makes you feel any better, it's not his fault, it's the ring." He countered.

At the mention, she slowly looked down at her hand. There was a white mark where it used to be. Of course, Damon had taken the ring off her. No better time to overpower her than when she was unconscious.

Something changed in her expression. It was a scarily calm look, and her hands shook as she stared. Two bright red spots appeared on her cheeks. She looked up slowly.

"Where's my ring?" It wasn't said like a question; it was more like a warning. Damon frowned at her. How long would it take for her to understand? She stood up like a predator, and her eyes looked straight into his. "Where. Is. My. Ring?"

"It's safe." He assured her.

She lunged at him, her fist slammed into his nose with a sharp, painful crack. He grunted, stumbling back, clutching at his face to stop the blood flow.

"_Bitch!"_ He muttered loudly in pain. Stefan caught her and had twisted her arms behind his back. None of them were expecting her to start throwing punches.

She didn't struggle in Stefan's hold. She met Damon's eyes like she was thirsty for his blood, ironically, since she was the human.

"She's strong," Stefan said, tone matter-of-fact like, to Damon, who covered his nose. Of course she was strong. She just broke his nose! To Bella, Stefan asked, "How old are you?"

"Things don't work this way." She hissed, swivelling around to look at him. "I need that ring. It has nothing to do with you!"

"Look, we're not just going to let you run around with a ring that will turn you into a murderer." Stefan said calmly, and as Damon looked at Bella's expression of total confusion, he realized something. Bella didn't know what dangers the ring came with. She was just assuming the man she supposedly 'looked up to' was a murderer from the start.

He uncovered his nose when it healed and walked toward her. She stared up at him disdainfully; like she was bigger than him.

"Look, I'm assuming you don't really understand why Ric is a murderer now, but he's the cold hard truth." Damon began. "The ring did that to him. It brought him back to life too many times, and his dark side took over. The ring isn't all sunshine and lollipops. It has a dark side, and unless you stop using it, you're going to be worse than him."

She struck him as the type to be more vengeful than Ric; and Ric was pretty vengeful. Realization swept across her face and she stared blankly for so long. Her panicked, frantic heartbeat stopped immediately; until it started again, slow and calm.

"I still need the ring." She said seriously.

Damon straightened up, sighing. The woman was impossible to get through to.

"How many times have you needed it?" He crossed his arms. Her life couldn't be that dangerous. Not as dangerous as she claimed it to be. She squirmed, uncomfortable in Stefan's hold.

"There are people after me." She said quietly. "I can't die yet. I have unfinished business here."

What kind of teenager talked like that? Stefan shared a look with Damon. Sure, it sucked that there were people after her, but the ring protected her from _supernatural _deaths.

"Get a restraining order," Damon suggested blandly. Impatience and anger swept across her face.

"They aren't humans. They're witches. A restraining order isn't going to stop them."

"Why?" He demanded. Her eyes went wide.

"I've told you enough! Without the ring, my blood will be on your hands." She snapped. "Can you live with that?"

What a stupid question to ask a vampire. But the way she phrased it, made him think he wouldn't be able to live with it. True, he had killed girls her age before, but girls that were aware of how important their lives were? Who didn't practically sacrifice themselves for one night with him? She was different, sure, but was she worth saving?

"You're not getting the ring back." He said dryly, shaking the thoughts from his mind. "But I'll get you help."

"What?" She burst out. "You can't help me!"

"I never said _I _would help you," Damon shrugged. Everyone went silent, until Stefan cleared his throat, shaking his head. He was still holding Bella's arms, even though she wasn't struggling.

"She won't. There's no way," Stefan shook his head again. Damon shrugged, thinking of Bonnie the Witch.

"She'll have to."

Of course, he did just turn her mother into a vampire. But with all thoughts aside, Bonnie wouldn't resist helping a harmless sixteen year old girl, as long as she talked to Bonnie herself, and left out the part where she broke Damon's nose, dislocated Ric's shoulder and stabbed him twice... Bella looked harmless enough.

But she'd have to change out of those bloody clothes. And put her hair in pigtails or something.

"Show me where you're staying." Damon said, a plan forming in his mind already.

* * *

**Leave a review :) Also, Bella's ring is different to Alaric**'**s; all will be explained in the next chapter**


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